Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The people are in the grip of a cost of living crisis and, as we all know, in the past month as a consequence of the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, energy prices have soared. The impact of the conflict has also led to spiralling commodity prices. The prices of wheat, fertiliser and other industrial inputs all rising sharply. In the current context it is easy to forget the cost of living crisis predates this conflict, with rents and energy prices both rising with terrible consequences for renters, workers and families. We are seeing what is a very deliberate narrative shift that says the entire cost of living crisis has been caused by the invasion of Ukraine and that all of us must make sacrifices and bear the cost. That simply is not true and needs to be challenged, because the cost of living crisis predates this conflict, as does the Government's failure to respond to it. In December prices had risen by 5.7%, with energy prices up 27% and home heating oil up 53%. As a result, even then, core social welfare rates, as Deputy Kerrane mentioned, had been cut in real terms, thus impacting the most vulnerable in our society. The Government rejected Sinn Féin's request that it respond. As I have said before, the cost of prices rises will not be borne by everyone equally. As always, low and middle-income households will bear the greatest costs in all of this and the wealthiest the least, unless action is taken.

Inflation hits those on lower incomes hardest. As a proportion of income, the lowest-income households spend three times more on fuel and energy than the top 10% do. Workers and families therefore face difficult choices. Their incomes are being squeezed and their pockets burned. We have had more than 30 price increases announced by energy providers in the past year. Bord Gáis announced last week it was hiking prices again by 39%.

More price hikes are expected in the months ahead. The narrative from the Government is that this is a result of the war in Ukraine, but gas is bought on the international market months in advance. The price hikes announced by Bord Gáis, and likely other utilities, are because of the spike that took place last year. We will likely see further increases, given that the gas being bought now will be consumed at the later end of the year and the large increases that have happened as a result of the invasion of Ukraine will be passed on to consumers.

Home heating oil has increased by €600 for 1,000 litres since the start of the year. The response from the Government has been bizarre. Last week, the Minister for Finance ruled out any measure to support low and middle income households until October. Separately, a Government party is knowingly spreading disinformation online and on the airwaves by falsely claiming the Government could not reduce excise on home heating oil and support households even though it actually could. It is a pity the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, has left the Chamber because this would be an opportunity for him to withdraw his accusation against me that I was lying on the national airwaves when I claimed there was excise duty on home heating oil. I am sure he has read The Journal'sfact check as well as the comments from the Department of Finance and Revenue clarifying that Sinn Féin was right and the Government was wrong in this regard. None of that means much to people, though. What they want is for the cost to be driven down, and this shows that further action could be taken by the Government.

The Green Party's leader is telling people to slow down while the Minister of State sitting across the floor from me has told people to stop complaining and shop around. This is the level of arrogance that we are getting from a Government that is out of touch with people who are really suffering. Will the Government wake up to the cost of living crisis that workers and families are suffering and support them? That is what this motion does. It starts by calling for excise duty on home heating oil to be removed in order to support families who are struggling to heat their homes. This alone would reduce the cost of a fill by €100. The motion calls on the Government to move as far as it can on the cost of diesel and petrol through further reductions in excise duty and to win a special derogation to reduce the level of VAT applied to household energy bills. Sinn Féin has been calling on the Government to negotiate with the European Commission on this issue since last September. Each time, the Government has ruled out that. As such, I welcome that it has started to deal with this issue in the past two weeks. Targeted supports are also necessary. That is why we are proposing cost of living cash payments at a rate of €200 for individuals with incomes below €30,000 and €100 for individuals with incomes between €30,000 and €60,000. My colleague has mentioned the suite of measures we need from the Department of Social Protection to protect the most vulnerable.

This motion is a call to action and I ask those on all sides of the House to respond and support the workers and families who are in great need at this time.

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